Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Forests, Climate Change, and Water Resources, Bangladesh, emphasized the urgent need for robust adaptation finance in vulnerable nations, including Bangladesh.
She highlighted that without additional financial flows to expand adaptation resources, countries like Bangladesh face significant risks to sustainable development.
Environment Advisor said this while addressing the ‘Governance for Strengthening SDG Climate Synergies’ event at the Blue Zone Side Event 1 of the World Climate Conference (COP-29).
She outlined Bangladesh’s status as one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, citing its geographical position in South Asia’s low-lying delta.
Ms. Hasan explained how rising sea levels, extreme heat, severe weather events, flooding, and cyclones threaten millions of lives, disproportionately affecting the poor and marginalized.
She warned that these impacts undermine Bangladesh’s ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while exacerbating poverty and destabilizing infrastructure.
Addressing the financial gap, Ms. Hasan noted that Bangladesh requires $8.5 billion annually for adaptation, yet only $3 billion is currently sourced domestically, leaving a $5.5 billion shortfall.
On a regional level, South Asia requires approximately $98 billion annually, while the global adaptation finance gap is $366 billion annually.
She stressed that financial mechanisms must prioritize grant-based finance and concessional loans to alleviate the burden on vulnerable nations and avoid high-interest market-rate loans that exacerbate economic instability.
